Accountants rub hands gleefully; declare media future actually strong

June 19, 2008 by Dave Haynes

PricewaterhouseCoopers has issued a Global Entertainment Media Outlook for the next five years and sees growth in most segments, including our little piece of the puzzle.

The ninth annual edition of the Outlook, contains in-depth analyses and forecasts of 15 major industry segments across five regions of the globe – the United States, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Canada. The Outlook shows that Canada’s entertainment and media market rose by 5.2% in 2007, down from the 8.6% rise in 2006. The overall Canadian market will expand at a 5.8% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to US$54 billion in 2012 from US$41 billion in 2007. Globally the industry will grow at 6.6% CAGR reaching US$2.2 trillion in 2012.

The report suggest the mid-range outlook for conventional media like broadcast TV and radio is actually not that bad because half-senile boomers like me would, crazily, rather watch video on a 40 inch LCD than a 2.5 inch handheld thingdoodle. Those nutty old farts.

The accountants also reference the out of home space and the legs for the digital side.

Radio and out of home advertising continued the solid growth from previous years and grew by 11.0% in 2007 to US$1.7 billion, the highest of all regions, and is expect to continue at a good pace, albeit moving downward at 10.6% CAGR to US$2.9 billion by 2012. A good portion of that growth will come from out-of-home advertising which will expand at a 6.6% CAGR, rising from US$368 million in 2007 to US$507 million in 2012.

“A digital billboard that shows sequential ads that change every 8-10 seconds can generate 10 to 20 times the revenue of a poster that displays a single ad and can be a key source of targeted advertising for  companies. It’s a unique way to reach customers which is very engaging and entertaining,” says Tracey Jennings.

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